


Saber of Quartz

by AlLind



Category: Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:26:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22297030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlLind/pseuds/AlLind
Summary: While showing Amethyst the Beta Kindergarten with the aid of Peridot, a fight with Jasper goes very differently and Steven Universe finds himself trapped between a rock and a hard place. A mysterious knight who calls herself Saber comes to his aid, but now Steven has to deal with a Moonlit and a Homeworld colliding.
Kudos: 7





	Saber of Quartz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where a Magic Show happens, a Kingergarten is visited, Golems attack and a Servant is summoned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, just wanted to let people know that I'm currently looking for a beta if anyone's interested. So, feel free to add a comment below in order to volunteer.

Steven watched from the back of the crowd as a magician, dressed in a white suit and top hat, with matching fluffy white hair, and yet a face that despite his hair color, nevertheless looked quite young, pushed two boxes back together again, taking care not to cause discomfort to the head of the volunteer that he’d sawn apart just a few minutes ago, “Now watch as I put this woman back together again!” He announced to the audience, taking in their silence as they watched with bated breath, and smirking as he pulled the lid of the two boxes open, he proudly presented the contents, “And as I open the box, I find her… completely intact!”

As the white-haired magician helped his volunteer out of the box, looking none the worse for wear despite having just been cut in half and put back together, applause rang out across the train station, prompting the magician to pull his volunteer into a bow as they took in the crowd’s appreciation.

Steven couldn’t help but smile as he watched them bow, he’d always loved magic shows ever since his dad first took him to one when he was five, and even though he’d long ago been told the difference between a stage magician and the magic that his guardians and himself used after traumatising one when he’d come to him for help during a Gem Monster attack, that didn’t dampen his enthusiasm for the art. Or meep-morp as two of his friends would probably call it, and speaking of one of those very friends, he wondered about her reaction to the show…

The magician finally stood up from his bow, as his previous volunteer left the stage, and started speaking to the audience again, interrupting Steven’s train of thought for a second, “And for my next trick, I’ll need another volunteer from the audience.” As the magician searched the crow for a new volunteer, Steven took the opportunity to see how his friends were taking the show.

On his left was Peridot, the former technician watching the stage with rapt attention, stars in her eyes after the watching the last. With short breaths, she whispered, “That. Was. Amazing!”

That wasn’t surprising, ever since she’d been forced to team up with the Crystal Gems, and later become one of them, the Green Gem had been fascinated by Human Culture, if occasionally getting some very strange ideas about it. No, what concerned Steven more was Amethyst’s reaction.

Steven turned to look worriedly at his right, where Amethyst, unusually sullen, had her arms folded in annoyance, obviously bored and not even bothering to pretend that she’d been watching the show. The purple gem was clearly not in the mood, but that didn’t stop her from trying to put a stop to Peridot’s enthusiasm, “No, it’s not. It’s all fake.” She grumbled; her face twisted into a frown.

Peridot rolled her eyes, not even remotely affected by Amethyst’s comment, “Well, obviously, but the way he moves his body in order to conceal the mechanism behind each ‘trick’, thus creating the illusion that it’s magic, it should be laughable, and yet I can’t help but love it!” She shook in delight as she turned her attention back to the stage with the magician still searching for another volunteer, seeming to pass over several eager hands.

Steven could only chuckle to himself, finding himself agreeing with Peridot even if she sometimes went overboard in her descriptions, “Yeah, that’s a magic show for you.”

“Ugh, why do we have to stand here, wasting our time like this?” Amethyst complained, impatiently, obviously itching to start training again. It broke Steven’s heart to see her like this, she’d always been somewhat self-loathing, despite the coolness she tried to hide it behind, but ever since Jasper bested her in combat and poofed her, she’d been getting increasingly insecure about her place in the Crystal Gems, and as a result more completive.

“Well, we need to do something while we wait for the Train and since there was a magic show on...” Steven reminded Amethyst, hoping to comfort her.

It didn’t seem to do the job however as Amethyst complained about that instead, “And why are we taking a train to this ‘Beta Kindergarten’ anyway? We should be using the Warp Pad, I mean it’s a Kindergarten after all, it has to have one.”

In truth, Steven still wasn’t entirely sure what a ‘Beta Kindergarten’ even was, Peridot had been surprisingly tight-lipped on the subject, all he knew about it was that it was a Kindergarten where Gems were made, and it was where Jasper came from; he could only hope that Peridot was right about it cheering Amethyst up, she had been getting better, but then that whole business with Bismuth, he realised he was bringing his own mood down so he answered by echoing Peridot’s explanation, “Peridot said that it wasn’t responding, so we have to take a train instead. Like we did the first time we went to your Kindergarten.” He reminded her, when he saw her frown even more, he panicked, “Come on Amethyst you know this.” He looked at her pleadingly, desperately wanting her to cheer up and return to the fun-loving Gem she was before Jasper hurt her.

Instead she just huffed at him, and blew her hair out of her eye, obviously not content with that answer. And to be honest, Steven wished he had a better one himself.

It was then that Peridot seemed to find the perfect opportunity to jump, obviously having come to the conclusion that Steven’s conversation with Amethyst more important than whatever the magician was up to, “Considering this is Beta we’re talking about, the Warp Pad being non-operational isn’t exactly a surprise.” She snickered at some private joke, leaving Steven utterly clueless.

Amethyst stood up straight, frowning at Peridot, “What are you talking about?” She asked annoyed, “What does it being Beta have to do with the Warp Pad not working?”

Peridot just chuckled to herself, “Oh, you’ll understand when we get there. Trust me.”

Steven was about to ask for more details, but just as he opened his mouth, the loud voice of the magician interrupted him, “You, boy with the star on your shirt, come up here!”

Taken off guard, Steven looked around as if hoping to see another boy who matched that description, but instead he noticed how everyone seemed to be turning their heads to face him. “Huh?” He asked, momentarily confused, “Does he mean me?”

“Well, obviously.” Amethyst said snidely, seeming to gain a slight bit of enthusiasm, now that something was actually happening. “Who else in this stupid station, wears a shirt like that?”

Steven wanted to point out that he’d seen plenty of people wear shirts, but Peridot interrupted him by giving him a wide beaming smile, “Go on, Steven!” She encouraged, “We still have plenty of time for the locomotive to arrive. Plus, I can’t wait to see what this next ‘trick’ will be.” She whispered quietly with obvious anticipation.

Steven looked over at Amethyst, slightly apprehensive, “How about you, Amethyst?” He asked worriedly, normally she would more than encourage him to take part, but right now he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to leave her alone with Peridot, “You okay with this?”

Amethyst just waved him off tiredly, “Yeah, yeah. Just go and get this over with so we can go back to wasting our time doing nothing when we could be training!”

Steven looked at her for a moment before quietly nodding, not wanting to cause any more of a fuss, “… Alright.”

He turned and made his way to the stage, taking a hesitant look back at the happily waving Peridot and the sulking Amethyst, the crowd parting around him like Moses and the Red Sea, (Pearl had hated that movie, calling it inaccurate, though she neglected to explain why). When he finally reached the stage’s edge, the magician extended his hand to help him climb onto it, apparently not wanting to waste time by having him climb the nearby stairs.

With a shrug, Steven took it, and was hoisted onto the stage, where he was immediately barraged by the magician’s voice, “Thanks for volunteering, young man. What’s your name? Oh, never mind I can see you want to get straight to business.”

Steven was so overwhelmed by the magician’s enthusiasm and the speed of his words, that he barely noticed how the magician seemed to slip into a British accent midway through, and just nodded numbly. He almost didn’t notice when the magician bent down and all but pushed a deck of cards into his hands.

The magician smiled at Steven, and winked, “Pick a card, any card.” He spoke loudly, just as much for the audience’s sake as Steven.

Steven looked nervously down at the deck of cards; while he didn’t get stage fright, something about the way that the magician presented the cards to him made him feel like this was an important moment and his choice of card would be crucial for his future; so he took a deep breath, and as if ripping off a band-aid, he quickly pulled a card from the pack at random. He looked down at the face down card he was holding and turned it around.

In the background Steven could hear the magician telling him not to show the card to him, but Steven was distracted by what was on the card. It looked nothing like the playing cards he'd sometimes saw on TV. Instead it seemed to have a red magic circle straight out of one of the cartoons Steven liked to watch, with a small speck of brown in the direct centre, with a closer look Steven realised it was a splinter of wood that had been stuck onto the card.

“Hey, mister magician?” Steven hesitantly asked, feeling like a mistake had been made, “Are you sure this is one of your cards?”

He extended the card to show the magician, only for the man to laugh and playfully push it back into Steven's hands, “Now don’t show me! That ruins the trick,” The Magician turned his attention back to the deck of cards that were in his hand and began to shuffle them. He turned back to face Steven, and pulled a card out from the pack, “Now tell me, young man, is this your card?” He asked as he proudly presented the card he pulled, turning it around to reveal the King of Diamonds.

Steven blinked in surprise, wasn’t it supposed to be his card?

“No, it’s not.” He replied bluntly. He turned his card around to show the magician, only for something obvious to suddenly occur to him, “Wait, weren’t you supposed to take the card back first?”

The magician just stared at him for a moment without blinking, before pulling a funny face and playfully hitting himself on the back of the head, much to the appreciation of the audience if Steven was to judge from the sound of chuckling filling the station, “Whoops, silly me!” The magician laughed, “I guess I ruined the illusion. I’ll have to work on that trick for next time. You can go back to your seat now; I won’t take any more of your time. You’ve been a great volunteer.” The Magician smiled as he adjusted his white top hat.

Steven shrugged, a little disappointed the trick had been a failure and turned to leave. Just as he was about to step off the stage, he remembered that he’d forgotten something; he turned around to face the magician, who just had his arms crossed as he looked at him expectedly, “Mister, you forgot to take your card back again!”

He held up the offending card, offering it to the magician, only for the man to shake his head. The magician smiled at Steven, and winked, “Don’t worry about it, you can keep it. Consider it a reminder for what happens when you don’t practice. Besides,” He added, “You’re going to need it soon, Steven. I can just tell.”

Steven nodded slightly confused, “Well, if you’re sure.” Not knowing what else to do, he shrugged his shoulders and jumped back down into the audience. While the crowd didn’t part like they had last time, Steven found it relatively easy to push past people, and as he did so he couldn’t help but feel that something strange had just happened, but he couldn’t put his finger on exactly what.

When he had made his way back through the crowd, he found Amethyst with her arms folded, frowning at him, having obviously been paying very close attention, “Yep, just like I thought, a total waste of time.” She grumbled.

Peridot, though still far more cheerful than Amethyst was at the moment, surprisingly agreed with her, “Yeah, I mean what was that? Cards? And he apparently didn’t even do the ‘trick’ right!”

Steven looked at Peridot and Amethyst, smiling bashfully, “Go easy on him, guys. He made a mistake, that’s all. Everyone makes them.” In fact, he was pretty sure he could have just given the card back to the magician on his own and the trick would have gone great.

Peridot shook her head knowingly, “Steven, mistakes are for practice, if I made a mistake on an actual engine, I’d have been shattered on the spot.” Far from looking distressed at the horrifying possibility, Peridot just looked at Steven like it was a fact of life, reminding him of just how alien Peridot’s experiences were to his own. “He should have done more practice first, at the very least before attempting that trick.”

Steven sighed, reluctantly agreeing with the others, “I guess so,” He paused as something important just occurred to him, “Wait, when did I tell him my name?” Then the answer struck him, and he gasped in wonder, “Wow, he must really have been magic after all!”

Amethyst rolled her eyes and dragged him away from the crowd and the magician, with Peridot in hot pursuit, “I kind of doubt it, Steven.”

Once the train had finally arrived, Steven and Peridot had spent the entire trip talking adamantly about the show, while Amethyst had just stared glumly out the window. While there had been a bit of fuss, when the Train Conductor asked for tickets, Steven had been able to diffuse the situation by asking them to charge it to his dad’s account. He wondered whether he should have asked his dad first, but then again, his dad was rich now and he was still living in a van, so clearly money didn’t matter all that much to him.

Still, Steven was glad when they finally got off, everyone had been staring at Peridot and Amethyst, and while neither seemed to notice, it made Steven realise just how accepting Beach City was in comparison, and exactly how much the Crystal Gems were outsiders, not just on Homeworld, but even on Earth. It made him wonder just how different he was from everyone else, Gems and Humans alike.

After a relatively short hike through the nearby desert, they soon began to see some tell-tale signs of a Kindergarten, as the amount of plants started to slow decrease as they approached a canyon made of sandstone; soon as they approached the opening, there was no plant life as far as the eye could see. The consequence of making Gems was that all of the land’s life, present and future would go into them, until the land was dead. As always, it was a horrifying reminder of exactly what would have been lost had his Mom not led the Crystal Gems to rebel against Homeworld all those years ago.

Amethyst was the one to break the silence, “Well, we’re here. Finally.” She added under her breath, obviously unhappy about how long the trip had taken.

Peridot didn’t seem to notice as she enthusiastically grabbed hold of both Steven and Amethyst’s wrists and pulled them along into the mouth of the cavern. “Come on, you two, you’ll soon see Amethyst why being jealous of Jasper is completely illogical!”

It wasn’t long before they came across the first few exit holes, littering both walls and stacked on top of one another, each one formed in the shape person, or rather Gem as Steven mentally corrected himself. Steven could just imagine a hundred Gems, all popping out of the walls and leaving one of these holes in the process. It was just like the Kindergarten that Amethyst came from, except…

“Woah, it looks so different from your Kindergarten, Amethyst.” Steven couldn’t help but comment, this Kindergarten’s walls were a reddish brown while boiling hot sand lay beneath their feet, undoubtedly a potential cause of blisters, if Steven hadn’t been wearing sandals, while Amethyst’s Kindergarten was almost uniformly made of dark purple rock, walls and ground alike.

Amethyst glared at the ground, and kicked a rock, “Yeah. I guess.” She mumbled.

Steven sighed to himself, it was almost hard to tell how she felt about her old Kindergarten, some days she seemed to love it and others she hated it. It had only gotten worse, after that fateful fight with Jasper.

Peridot nodded her head at Steven’s observation, “Well of course it does, you were made in the Prime Kindergarten, Amethyst, this is the Beta Kindergarten. They’re completely different. I’ll explain.”

Before Peridot could start lecturing them on the differences between Kindergarten, Steven noticed something grey out of the corner of his eye. He turned to face it and immediately recognised it as one of those Injectors, large metal cylinders containing pink mud, attached to Drills that were burrowed into the rock of both walls, miles above their heads. He wasn’t completely certain what the point of them was, just that it had something to do with making Gems.

This one must have somehow been dislodged from the walls of the canyon, as it was lying on its side, covering the familiar upraised grey circle that Steven must have seen over a million times. “There’s the Warp Pad!” He shouted as he pointed it out to the others. “That’s why we couldn’t use it!”

Frowning Peridot walked over to the Injector and confidently knocked on it, the hollow ringing it let out in response caused her to shake her head and sigh. “See that’s the problem with Beta, this Injector must have broken off of its rock and fell right on top of the Warp Pad. That’s why you keep the Warp Pad as far away from the Injectors as possible, especially if you’re going to use something as fragile as Red Sandstone. This would never have happened in Prime.” Peridot shook her head in affectionately, “Beta, am I right?”

Amethyst leaned in, her curiosity piqued, “So, Red Sandstone not exactly good for Kindergartens?” She asked, wanting to know more.

Peridot waved her off, “Oh, it’s fine, if you want to risk Injectors falling onto your head.” Realising that both Steven and Amethyst were looking at her quizzically, she elaborated, “The stability of Red Sandstone Kindergartens is compromised after a couple of centuries of erosion and considering how long it takes for new Gems to grow in the first place, that’s a serious problem. After a few millennia though? We’re lucky this entire place hasn’t been blown away already.” She tapped at one of the walls, and then beckoned them to follow her, “Come on, we can clear this up later, right now I’ll show you more.”

As Amethyst began to follow Peridot as she walked away from the warp pad, Steven hung back for a moment, he narrowed his eyes at the wreckage, something didn’t look right. “Why does this look so dented?” He asked himself, they didn’t look like damage from hitting the ground, in fact they looked more like fist marks, “And where are those leg things?”

He looked around for any sign of the legs of the Injector that kept it dug into the rock, wondering if they had simply broken off during the crash, but quickly realised just how far away the others were getting, not wanting to be left behind he broke out into a run, “Hey guys, wait up!”

By the time he finally caught up with the others, Amethyst was in the middle of another question, “So, the problem with Beta is that the Injectors could fall at any moment? What does that have to do with Jasper’s quality?”

Peridot seemed to find that question hilarious as she broke out into a laugh, “Nyeh heh heh heh heh!” She wiped a tear from her eye and answered, “Seriously though, Beta has numerous flaws, not just the poor choice in placement. It was a rush job, back when Homeworld needed all the soldiers it could get to crush the Rebellion, defective or not. I mean look over there.” She pointed at one of the holes as they passed it, one that looked noticeably disjointed.

“It’s sideways?” Steven realised after looking at it for a moment, “Does that mean the Gem came out sideways?” He asked for clarification.

Peridot scoffed at his question, though Steven got the feeling it wasn’t directed at him, “Well, yeah, but do you expect from a place where the walls curve? It’s like they didn’t bother to have a single certified Kindergartener here when they built this place.” She shook her head in dismay, obviously disgusted at the sloppy work.

Something had been bothering Steven for a while, “So, how do you know about this place, Peridot? Weren’t you made long after the Rebellion? That’s why you’re Era 2, right?”

Peridot smirked, “Please, what self-respecting Kindergartner doesn’t know about this place? It’s something of an open joke among us on how not to run a Kindergarten.” She stopped and turned to face Amethyst, “Unlike your Kindergarten, Amethyst, which got everything right, good location, good rock formation, even the perfect temperature for growth. Nothing like this place.”

Amethyst didn’t seem to notice the compliments, “So, you didn’t know about the Crystal Gems, but you knew about this place? How the crud does that work?” She complained, raising an eyebrow at Peridot. Steven had to admit she had a point, back when Peridot first came to Earth, she seemed surprised that Gems were even present, let alone the Crystal Gems who rebelled against Homeworld.

Peridot blushed and chuckled weakly, “To be honest, all that remains of your Rebellion that’s commonly known by Era 2 Gems are stories, I mean I knew that there was a Rebellion on this planet, but I had no idea the Rebels actually won, or that they even survived the war. I just assumed you were all wiped out.”

Amethyst didn’t seem entirely happy with this response, “So, what did you think the point of the Cluster was then? If not to wipe out the Crystal Gems?”

The Cluster, Steven remembered, with some mixed memories, was a gigantic forced fusion, created by Homeworld during the dying days of the Rebellion, from the shattered remains of Crystal and Homeworld Gems alike. The entire reason Peridot came to Earth in the first place was to check up on the fusion’s status, since it was buried deep in the Earth’s core with the intent to destroy the Planet when it finally woke up; if it hadn’t been for her warning and help, Steven might never have been able to convince the Cluster that it didn’t need to destroy the Earth, and Steven shuddered to think what the result of that was.

Peridot looked down at her feet shamefully, obviously disgusted with herself, “An experiment to make use of Shattered Gems, Homeworld has a resource problem after all, and since Shattering is the number one punishment for most major crimes…” She trailed off, not wanting to think about it anymore.

Amethyst just sighed, “Figures. And Jasper was definitely from here?” She asked again, Steven realising she didn’t believe it.

Peridot nodded, “That’s what it said on her file when she was assigned as my escort. I mean from what little I could get from the thing, considering how much of it was redacted.” She grumbled to herself, reminding Steven once again, that Peridot had been their enemy just over a month ago, and just how much she had changed in that time.

Amethyst seemed to take that as evidence enough since she moved to another matter, “Well then, if she’s from here, where’s her hole?” She gestured around them at the holes, obviously not wanting to check them one by one.

Taking a look around himself, Steven found himself freezing when he looked up. He pointed up at the wall behind Amethyst and Peridot, “What about that big one up there? That could be it.”

Peridot grinned, “Well-” But, that grin quickly disappeared when she turned around to see the massive hole several feet above her head, its silhouette bearing a striking resemblance to a certain enemy of their, but nevertheless, Steven was reminded of more of a monster than a Gem, “Oh.” Peridot whispered in a small voice.

Amethyst seemed to share her shock as she could only ask one thing, “That’s Jasper’s hole?”

Peridot shook her head, and seemed to regain her former enthusiasm, “Come on guys, we already knew she was big! Size means almost nothing when it comes to quality.” She tried to climb up the wall to reach the hole, “I’m sure that once I have the chance to see inside, we’ll be able to see just how subpar she really is.” However, her small size meant she kept on slipping until eventually she slipped and fell face first onto the ground, “Could one of you give me a boost?”

Steven snapped out of his shock, “Oh, right.” He grabbed hold of Peridot and as if playing with a ball, threw her high into the air, Peridot screaming in terror all the while. Miraculously Peridot managed to catch the ledge formed by the bottom of Jasper’s hole, “Wow thanks, Steven.” She said flatly, before pulling herself up into the hole, “Now, if I just look around, I’ll be able to-” As she turned to look at one of the corners, her voice froze momentarily, “Wait that’s perfect.”

Upon hearing this, Amethyst’s expression became despondent, much to Steven’s worry.

Undaunted by this, Peridot moved to check the other side of the hole, “But if I just- oh wait. That’s great too.”

Steven winced, upon hearing this, while Amethyst’s expression became even bleaker, “I’m really sorry, Amethyst.” He whispered, not wanting to Peridot to hear and distract her from finding a flaw, “I know how much this means to you.”

Amethyst laughed cheerfully at him, but even Steven could tell it sounded hollow, “What?” She asked, still laughing, “It’s fine. So, what if Jasper turned out great in a dump like this, while I sucked even with the ‘perfect’ Kindergarten I was raised in? What else is new?”

Peridot upon hearing, seemed to renew her efforts with an increased fervour, “Now hang on there, if I look in the back,” Steven watched as Peridot’s head disappeared from sight, obviously heading further into the hole, “I’m sure I can-” Once again, Peridot’s voice cut off, and her head returned, with a disturbed expression on her face, she remained silent, as she jumped down to join the others. “It even has frictional rock melt. It’s glass all the way to back.” She told them in a broken, dazed tone, “I’ve never seen an Exit Hole this perfect. And that means… She’s perfect. She’s the Ultimate Quartz.” She suddenly exploded in panic, “She’s the Ultimate Quartz! What are we going to do?!!”

Despite clearly being upset herself, Amethyst just raised an eyebrow at Peridot’s panic, “Really?” She asked flatly.

Steven was about to try to calm her down, when a voice that sounded vaguely familiar, suddenly whispered into his ear, “ _Get out of the way.”_

Steven blinked, and looked around to see if there was anyone else there, “Huh? What does that-” His voice suddenly died in his throat when he looked up to see a large rock plummeting off the cliff directly above them. “Amethyst, Peridot, move!" Steven shouted, acting completely on instinct as he pushed both Gems to the ground, away from the rock.

With a deafening thud, the rock landed directly on top of where they just were, and with a sick taste in his mouth, Steven realised just how close they came to getting crushed. Amethyst just gazed dumbly at the spot where the rock landed, before swearing, “What the crud?!! Where did that come from?!!”

Before Peridot or Steven could recover enough to try to answer her, another familiar voice echoed out across the canyon, though this time Steven had no trouble recognising it, it had appeared enough in his nightmares. “So, you’re the idiots who were poking your noses in my training ground.” It said flatly as if vaguely disappointed they weren’t dead.

Steven looked up to stare at the figure directly above them, standing on top of the canyon’s wall, where the rock had fallen from. Her massive figure, framed by her shaggy white hair, and topped off with a sneer on her orange tiger striped face, made her instantly recognisable, and with a start Steven realised he was, like Peridot and Amethyst beside him, shouting a very familiar name, “Jasper?!!”

Pearl blinked as they arrived at their destination, she’d used the warp enough that she was long since used to the sensation of being pulled across space and time in an instant, to find yourself in another location, but that didn’t mean the tingling feeling that was left behind, ever really went away.

Beside her, Garnet stepped off the Warp Pad, as visibly unfazed from the experience as ever. In many ways, Pearl envied her stoic personality, but she knew well enough to not dwell on the idea, she deeply regretted what happened last time.

“Why do you think Lapis called us over.” Pearl wondered out loud, “I mean, considering our… history together, there’s no way she’d do it unless she had no choice. And she already has Steven and Amethyst to help her.” She was neglecting to mention Peridot and they both knew it, but to be honest Pearl doubted that the Green Gem could handle herself in a crisis.

Garnet’s answer was short and to the point, “I have no idea.”

Pearl laughed nervously, while she’d been given that answer before, it never boded well for them, “Garnet, that’s nonsense, you must have some idea. You have Future Vision for goodness sake.”

Garnet was silent for a moment, before she finally answered, “It’s clouded for the moment.”

Being able to see the future and all its possibilities, was partly why Garnet had made such an effective leader, so the idea that something could outright stop it, rather than simply give her the wrong type.

Pearl stared at her, “For the…? What could cause that?” She asked, already feeling on the verge of panicking.

Garnet in contrast remained as cool as ever, “Any number of things, my vision relies on me knowing certain relevant facts first. Evidently, whatever’s going to happen, it will be completely out of left field.”

Pearl rolled her eyes, she must have heard that explanation thousands of times, “Yes, Garnet, but we both know that doesn’t cloud your Future Vision, it just gives you results based on faulty premises, this sounds more like outright sabotage!”

Garnet nodded quietly, “I know.”

She was terrified, Pearl realised, and normally the only thing that could scare her so greatly was either the loss of a comrade, or recently, Steven’s mental and physical wellbeing. To think the loss of her Future Vision could have a similar effect, was… not entirely surprising, considering exactly what it symbolised to the Fusion.

With that grim thought, Pearl started to make her way towards the barn Lapis and Peridot were living in together, and with a moment pause, Garnet made to move to join her. The journey was silent as Garnet seemed to be in conversation with herself, causing Pearl to irrationally worry that Garnet might end up splitting up due to an internal conflict.

All in all, it was something of a relief, when they finally encountered Lapis Lazuli halfway on the journey to the barn, the blue gem having been lying on the grass, reading some kind of magazine, calmly brushing her blue hair out of the way if it got in the way; she had clearly been waiting for them.

As they approached, Lapis put the magazine down and stood up to greet them, with her usual deadpan expression, though it was a massive improvement to when they first, well ‘met’ seemed to be the nicest way to describe that business.

“Garnet. Earl.” Lapis greeted them both, her expression never changing, though her body seemed to tense.

Pearl narrowed her eyes, that had clearly been on purpose, “It’s Pearl.” She stiffly corrected her.

Lapis didn’t seem fazed, “Yeah that. Good to see you here.” She said flatly, before turning to walk to walk towards the barn, “Follow me.”

Pearl and Garnet exchanged a look, before doing so, their steps synchronising with one another as they watched the blue gem in front of them, looking for any hint to why she called them.

Pearl nervously rubbed her hands. Perhaps, they could use this opportunity to get some things off their chests. “Listen, we never really had a chance to talk before, I mean we were always so busy, but I’m really sorry about the mirror. I had no idea you were still conscious in there.”

There was no response for a moment and when Lapis finally answered, she didn’t even turn to face them, her voice staying just as flat, “And there was the whole keeping me in your Gem.” She reminded Pearl, “Where nothing really happened for millennia. Your inner you is kind of a control freak by the way.”

Pearl sighed, that was a better reaction than she’d been expecting, but not quite what she’d been expecting, “I’m aware. But, Lapis, you could have contacted us at any time, that’s why you talking to Steven had us so worried.”

Lapis swung around to look at Pearl, scowling, causing Pearl to take a step back, she’d pushed her too far, “I did try to talk to you,” Lapis almost hissed, “but you said so little around me, it was almost impossible, in that state I could only repeat what I saw in the mirror, but all you ever did was order me around. Just Mirror, show me this, or show me that.” She parroted Pearl’s words mockingly, causing Pearl to gulp, that did sound uncomfortably like her.

Garnet stepped in, clearly wanting to defuse the situation, as she placed a hand on Pearl’s shoulder, “We didn’t want to risk you being stolen and revealing dangerous information, so we kept quiet as much as possible around you. Rose’s orders. I’m sorry.”

Lapis scowled for a moment longer, before shaking her head and turning around to continue walking, “Well, that just figures doesn’t it?” She muttered to herself.

Pearl frowned; she really didn’t like what the Blue Gem was implying. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Lapis laughed bitterly, “I was trapped in that Mirror in the first place, because Homeworld thought I was a rebel and wanted information about you all. Guess your ‘glorious leader’ had the same line of thought for the Mirror’s purpose.”

Pearl almost hit her then, how dare she imply that Rose knew. Yes, Rose had been privier to information on Homeworld’s tactics, than even Garnet and the other Crystal Gems had known, but there had been limits, and the mirror must have fallen into those limits otherwise Rose would have let her out.

Thankfully Garnet once again saw fit to step in, obviously not needing to see the future to see how close Pearl was to snapping, “It doesn’t matter, but what does matter is why you called in the first place.”

Lapis frowned at Garnet, abruptly stopping again, and stood up straighter, “Don’t you already know?” She asked, on guard and suspicious, making Pearl wonder just how much Steven had shared with her if she knew about Future Vision. Peridot was one thing, her bridges with Homeworld had already been burned, but Lapis?

Garnet not showing any surprise to Lapis’ knowledge, just shook her head, “Like with the mirror, some things escape me.”

Pearl almost breathed a sigh of relief at that answer, Garnet seemed to be on the same page as Pearl when it came to Lapis’ questionable trustworthiness when it came to things unrelated to Steven. It was the right move to keep the sabotaged Future Vision, as much of a secret as possible, likely just between the two of them.

Lapis, evidently accepting that answer, just sighed in resignation, “Fine. Over here.”

She changed direction slightly, leading them past the barn, which seemed to be in a greater mess than when they had last visited, leave it to Peridot to make what was once simple, messy and complicated, and over to one of the nearby fields. As they walked, Pearl smelt something odd, was that smoke? Had Lapis called them because of a fire, no, that made no sense, Lapis could control water, fire was nothing to her.

It was only when they got closer that Pearl understood. Five separate bubbles of water floated in front of them, each one of containing a small red figure, almost identical to the others, save for wearing different outfits, and having a gem attached, and in one case replacing different parts of their bodies. They were Rubies, Pearl could recognise them in a heartbeat; in the distance, the smoking red heap of metal, made which rubies quite clear to her.

Lapis watched Garnet and Pearl’s expressions, as she gestured to the bubbles, “This is why I called.” She told them, her voice returning to its almost default flatness.

Pearl wished she could react so kindly, “The Rubies?!!” She almost screeched, then a thought occurred to her and she whispered a question to Garnet out of the corner of her mouth, “This is what was blocking you Future Vision?”

“Evidently so,” Garnet noted, smiling slightly, “We need to figure out how.”

Pearl sighed, Garnet always got excited when they encountered other Rubies and for obvious reasons, but nevertheless, she was right, so Pearl nodded her head, “Yes, Lazuli, can you tell us what happened that resulted in, well this?” She gestured at the crashed ship and the bubbled Rubies.

Lapis quickly answered her, “Oh, I was just watching Camp Raising Hearts, when their ship-”

“The Roaming Eye.” Garnet interrupted, correcting her.

Lapis rolled her eyes, slightly annoyed at the interruption, “Yeah, that, came out of nowhere and seemed to be heading straight for me. Like last time. So, I pulled some water into a hand and used it to swat them out of the sky.”

Pearl was once again reminded just how powerful Lapis was whenever she made the effort, “Then them being in bubbles?” She asked, not really needing any more details.

Lapis looked at the bubbles, as if just remembering they were there, “Oh, I just put them in time out when they came out looking really upset.” She seemed to finally notice Pearl’s staring, and just shrugged in response, “What? I didn’t want to have to clean up another mess.”

“Why didn’t you do that last time?!!” Pearl couldn’t help but ask, especially considering what happened the last time they had to deal with these Rubies.

Lapis smirked, seeming to enjoy Pearl’s annoyance, “You wanted to play Baseball. It was a stupid plan, a fun one, but still stupid.” Pearl couldn’t bring herself to disagree.

Garnet placed a hand on Pearl’s shoulder, “We also wanted the minimum amount of violence possible, remember?” She reminded Pearl.

Pearl sighed, “Never mind,” She looked around the field, realising just who were missing from this picture, “Where are Steven and the others?”

Lapis leaned into one of the bubbles, seemingly to inspect her handiwork and the captured Ruby inside, “Peridot took them to some place called Beta.” She told them, not even bothering to care.

Pearl’s eyes bugged out, “Beta?!! What in the heavens are they doing there?!!”

Lapis waved her off, “Cheering up Amethyst or something. I dunno, I was watching Camp Raising Heart at the time.”

“Why were you- “Pearl tried to collect herself, “No, no, it doesn’t matter. They must be going to look at Jasper’s hole, maybe it’ll be fine, maybe they’ll just assume it’s like the others.” She rationalised.

Garnet shook her head, “Peridot’s an expert at Kindergartens, she’ll notice. And tell the others.”

Pearl bit her lip, “You’re right! This is going to crush Amethyst! She already has problems with coming out so late, but to know that Jasper came out perfect?” She really didn’t want to see Amethyst’s reaction to this.

Lapis raised an eyebrow, finally taking an interest in the subject, or more likely, Pearl’s panic, “What are you talking about?”

Pearl sighed, she hated having to tell this story, but there was no point to denying it, not anymore, “Back during the Rebellion, they were running out of soldiers, and it wasn’t easy to transport soldiers here from off-world. So, they ended up moving some injectors to another site to produce Jaspers as foot soldiers. Obviously, they were in such a rush that they made a few mistakes.”

“A lot of mistakes.” Garnet corrected her.

Pearl actually managed to chuckle at that, “Yes, a lot of mistakes, so most of the Jaspers that popped out were defective in some way or another. You’d be surprised how many ended up joining the Crystal Gems.” Her expression sobered up, “Well, except for her.”

Garnet shook her head, obviously to give Pearl some comfort, “It was bound to happen at some point.”

Pearl nodded tiredly, “Yes, yes, they made so many mistakes that the probability of it happening was greater than if they had just kept it all perfectly controlled like in the Prime Kindergarten.”

Lapis narrowed her eyes, annoyed at how they were avoiding the subject, “What was bound to happen? What was greater? What aren’t you telling me?”

It was Garnet who answered her, “Jasper’s hole was perfect.”

“Huh?” Lapis blinked in surprise, clearly not having expected that.

“They somehow got everything so right about Jasper that she popped out perfect!” Pearl complained, annoyed at the sheer unlikeliness against it, “Against all common sense, they got so much wrong that they ended up getting everything right! I mean you must have had some idea, why do you think Malachite was able to beat Alexandrite like she did, when it four Gems fused together against two?”

Lapis’ eye twitched, “Yes, I love thinking about the time that I spent fused to Jasper. That makes me feel so great.” He voice was completely monotone, as if all emotion had drained out of it, even her usual deadpan.

Pearl suddenly realised just how stupid she’d been and desperately tried to change the subject. “Err, I mean, what are we going to do with them?” She pointed at the bubbled Rubies, “Should we finish the job and send back to the Temple with the other Gems?”

Garnet shook her head, “No, we need to interrogate them and find out what they’re doing here.” She stated calmly, making it clear that this was an order and not a suggestion.

“Are you joking?” Pearl asked, “We already know what they’re doing here! The same thing they were doing here last time, they’re looking for Jaspe-” She cut herself off remembering her earlier mistake and looked at Lapis nervously.

Lapis just rolled her eyes, “You can say her name you know; I’m not made of glass. Anymore.”

“You’re right you’re not.” Garnet agreed with Lapis, “And just because that’s what they were doing last time, we can’t make the mistake of assuming they’re on the same mission now.” She pointed out and stared at Pearl expectantly.

Pearl’s shoulders slumped as she reluctantly gave in, “I suppose so. Lapis, can they hear what we’re saying?”

Lapis shook her head, and shrugged her shoulders completely apathetic to Pearl’s question, “Sound is different underwater, so probably not.”

Pearl nodded to herself, “Then we should interrogate them individually, Lapis release one of them from one of the bubbles, and remember just one of them, not two of them, not three of them, just one of them.” She ordered the blue gem, her instincts as a former commander of the Gem Rebellion kicking in.

Lapis far from doing what she was told, just stared at Pearl silently for a moment, “I’m not your mirror, stop telling me what to do.”

“Lapis, Pearl didn’t mean it like that.” Garnet tried to assure her, as Pearl took a step backwards, fearful of provoking Lapis anymore.

Before the situation could deteriorate any further, a loud rumbling sound interrupted them, causing both Garnet and Pearl to shift into battle mode, summoning their weapons, a pair of bronze gaunlets and a spear respectfully.

Lapis’ eyes widened as she turned her head, searching wildly for the source of the sound, “What was that?”

Her question was quickly answered as right in front of them, rock and stone seemed to rise out of the ground of the field, forming into several mounds of rock which as they watched, seemed to twist into crude figures of people, reminding Pearl of those snowmen that Humans liked to make whenever it snowed outside.

Lapis unlike Pearl and Garnet who both recognised these creatures for what they were, took a step backwards in confusion, “Are those… Gem Monsters?” She asked, obviously trying to fit their apparent attackers into what Steven told her.

Garnet’s visor caught the sun, causing it to shine for a moment, as she readied herself, “No, they’re Golems.” She told Lapis.

Another rumbling sound caused all three of them to turn around, and see more mounds of dirt, twisting into the form of Golems. Pearl bit her lip, they were surrounded.

Lapis unsure of what to do, and having no idea where to turn, stood stock-still, “And those are?” She questioned, trying to keep the fear from her voice.

Pearl readied her spear, glaring at the Golems, “They’re Human attempts to replicate us, mud, stone and soil clumped together and controlled by a precious stone and magical energy.” She tracked the Golems, waiting for them to make the first move.

That caused Lapis to frown, “Wait, Humans made these? I thought they couldn’t use Magic.”

“They can’t.” Garnet agreed with her, also readying her fists, “They can use Magecraft though.”

“What’s the difference?” Lapis asked.

It was then that one of the Golem made the first move, stepping on one of the stones, dislodged by its construction, the stone quickly cracking under its weight, before breaking into hundreds of pieces.

Pearl shook her head, “It doesn’t matter now, they’re obviously here to fight, so let’s fight!”

Garnet nodded in agreement, “Then let’s fight.”

As one they charged in separate directions, Garnet taking on the ones in front of them, while Pearl took on the ones behind her. The Golems lumbering strikes were slow, and therefore easy to dodge, but ones strike to the ground created shockwaves which disoriented Pearl and almost cost the Gem her footing.

Selecting the offending Golem as her target, Pearl charged straight towards it, weaving under its arm as it tried to withdraw its arm, “Take this!” She shouted, as she thrust her spear directly into the centre of the Golem’s chest, only for the spear to keep on going and going. Pearl almost lost her grip on her spear, as it passed right through the chest of the golem and kept on going.

“Ugh, what are you made of?” Pearl asked in disgust, “Mud?”

Meanwhile Lapis had been left behind when both of the Crystal Gems had rushed off into battle, completely unsure of what to do. On one hand, she hated fighting and the others were clearly handling it themselves, but on the other, she really didn’t like how everyone seemed to be intruding on the barn today, it was just meant to be a quiet day where Steven spent some time with Lapis and Peridot, but Amethyst had to join him and cause a fuss, causing the others to leave, then the Rubies came and now this.

Thundering footsteps broke her out of her thoughts and she looked up to see one of the golems, having obviously been missed by the others, with its arm raised and ready to send it crashing down on her.

Lapis blinked, and suddenly instead of a Golem Jasper was there, _“You need me and I need you.”_ She laughed as she readied her fist.

“No!” Lapis shut her eyes as on instinct she called every drop of water in the area to her side, the water from the not-quite lake Peridot made for her, every remaining puddle in the area, and even the bubbles she trapped the Rubies in. She barely remembered not to use the water they kept in the silo since fish lived in there. She didn’t need to look up to see the massive bubble of water directly above her head, and with just a thought she imagined it pushing its way into the Golem, through every opening, every crack formed during its construction until it was ready to burst.

With her eyes still closed, Lapis commanded the water to push out in every way, “Why won’t you just leave me alone?!!” She shouted as she opened her eyes and watched as the Golem burst apart with rock, mud and water going everywhere.

Every Golem in the area quickly turned to face her, ignoring the other Gems, clearly identifying her as the greatest threat. Lapis glared at them as they marched towards her, “Who’s next?”

Unnoticed due to the fight, the Rubies, finally freed from their watery prisons, dropped to the floor with a thuds; the Ruby with a Gem in place of an eyeball was the first to recover, shaking her head and glaring at the Crystal Gems who had managed to regain the attention of some of the Golems.

“We’re free! Let’s get ‘em!” She shouted and made to charge in, with the Ruby with her Gem on an arm preparing to join her.

Before they could though, the visor-wearing Ruby with a Gem on her chest motioned for them to stop, “No!” She commanded, “We’ve got to get out of here.”

“What?” The Arm Ruby furiously questioned. “We can take them!”

The Ruby with a Gem on her naval just shook her head worriedly, “I don’t know, it didn’t work out so last time.”

“Last time, we bothered to listen to them.” The Eye Ruby pointed out, “We won’t do that again.” She promised, clenching her fist.

The visor-wearing Gem shook her head angrily, “It doesn’t matter! We need to-” She paused in mid-sentence, “What’s that word?” She asked.

“Run away like Cowards?” The Arm Ruby spat the words like poison.

The visor-wearing Ruby didn’t even seem to notice, just shaking her heads, “No, that’s not it.”

“Retreat?” The Navy Ruby suggested, speaking softly.

The visor-wearing Ruby snapped her fingers, “Yeah, we need to retreat and regroup!”

The Eye Ruby blinked her single eye, “But all five of us are here.” She pointed out.

The visor-wearing Ruby looked up in surprise, “Really? I could have sworn we only had four of us. Never mind. We need to go and strat-i-gise.” She pronounced the word carefully, clearly not too familiar with it herself.

The Ruby with a Gem on her leg looked down at the ground forlornly, “Aww, but we just got here.” She whimpered.

“Besides, we’re supposed to be looking for Jasper.” The Eye Gem pointed out, trying to remind the other Rubies of their mission. “We can’t just leave!”

The Arm Ruby agreed with her by growling, “Urrghhh. We searched Neptune, we searched all the other planets in this stupid solar system, she’s either here or in Alpha Centuri! And we all know what happened last time we went there.” She reminded the others, causing them all to shudder at the bad memories.

That was all it took to make the visor-wearing Ruby give in, “Fine, we’ll take the ship and find some other place on this stupid rock to land! Happy?” She asked the others, causing them to reluctantly nod, so taking a deep breath, she turned around to lead them to the ship.

She was greeted by the sight of the Lapis Lazuli that captured them, smashing one of those rock monsters into pieces with a fist made out of water, and a little further away, she could see the same thing being done by the fusion, (the one between a Ruby and a Sapphire, which was disgusting by the way), using her gauntlets to rip one apart. The only one who seemed to be having much trouble was the Pearl, which was no surprise considering Pearls were meant to serve and not fight. Still it was a sobering reminder of just how outmatched they were.

Trying to stay calm, she turned back to face the others, only to see by their expressions that they had all clearly just seen the same thing, “On second thoughts, why don’t we come back for the ship later? I’m sure it’s safe where we parked it.”

The Naval Ruby frowned, “But didn’t we-?” She began to ask before the Arm Gem, suddenly starting to sweat, covered her mouth and dragged her away as far away from the fight as possible.

“Hush you.” The Arm Gem told her as they made their collective retreat.

Still having trouble with dealing with one Golem, Pearl noticed the retreating small figures and immediately realised what was going on, “Garnet!” She shouted to her leader, “The Rubies, we can’t let them escape!” She suddenly had to duck when the Golem’s arm came crashing towards her again.

Garnet was silent for a moment taking the opportunity to pull a Golem’s arm off before coming to a decision, “Leave them! We can deal with them later; we have bigger problems to deal with!”

She could only hope she’d made the right decision, as she prepared herself for what looked to be like a long and drawn out fight, judging by the extra golems that were just now emerging from the ground.

Steven could only watch in terror, as Jasper’s large frame dropped like a stone onto the floor of the Kindergarten, the large Gem having seen fit to jump from the top of the canyon to the bottom to meet them. She landed with ease, not even seeming to notice the intense shockwaves her impact caused, forcing him and the others to stumble backwards.

Jasper smirked at them, “Hello, Rose. What brings you rebel scum to my training ground?” She repeated herself, completely dismissing Amethyst and Peridot as a threat and focusing solely on him.

Amethyst was having none of it, glaring at Jasper with every bit of hate she could muster, “Training Grounds? What do you mean, ‘Training ground’?”

Jasper’s smirk grew as she gestured behind her, to the mouth of another section of the canyon, “Take a look around and you’ll see.”

Confused at what she meant, Steven took a hesitant step forwards to get a better and look and immediately regretted it as he reeled back; many of the holes had been dug out and what looked like the legs of several Injectors had been ripped off to serve as bars, turning those holes into makeshift cages. Inside each of what looked to be several dozen cages, were Gem Monsters, forced inside, with the holes clearly not having been made to properly fit several of the Monster’s sizes making them look like they had been stuffed in. Steven almost felt sick at the sight and out of the corner of his eye, Peridot and Amethyst seemed to be having similar reactions.

Heedless to her audience’s disgust, Jasper seemed almost proud of what she’d done, “The way I see it, they served Homeworld once, so they can do so again, after I reassert some discipline into them.”

Steven forced down the sick feeling, and asked, “Which means?”

The Gem Monster closest to their side of the Kindergarten saw them and took the opportunity to screech at them, almost sounding like it was crying for help if Steven was anyone to judge.

Jasper took umbradge and marched over to smash the cliff wall beside the makeshift cage, causing the monster inside to flinch back and whimper, which seemed to make Jasper even angrier, “Be quiet!!” She barked, “A good soldier follows their orders with no complaint!”

“Why would you do this?!! This is just cruel!” Peridot shouted at her, unable to hold herself back.

At the sound of her voice, Jasper’s eyes seemed to widen, “Wait a minute.” She narrowed her eyes at Peridot, taking in her Gem placement, “5XG? What have they done to you?!! Where the hell are your limb enhancers?!!”

Out of the corner of his eye, Steven saw how Amethyst seemed to gasp quietly in surprise.

Peridot though seemed to have much bigger things on her mind as she laughed uncomfortably as she started playing with her fingers, nervous about Jasper’s potential reaction, “Yeah, about that… TheymayhavebeentossedintheoceanaftertheCrystalGemscaughtme.” She blurted out quickly, too fast for Steven to keep track of it all.

The same seemed to be true of Jasper who blinked as she tried to translate what Peridot had said, before suddenly erupting into fury, “They what?!! Then what good are you then? You’re an Era 2 Peridot, without technological assistance you’re dead weight!” She bellowed, causing Peridot to wilt right in front of him.

Steven couldn’t take it, how dare Jasper do this to Peridot? “That’s not true! Leave her alone!”

Jasper turned her anger onto Steven, “Stay out of this, Rose! This is between me and my troops, you of all people should understand what that’s like.”

“I keep telling you, I’m not my mom!” Steven shouted.

“And I am not one of your troops!” Peridot continued where Steven had left off, having regained her former spark, “You were assigned to be my escort, nothing more!”

Jasper shook her head, still glaring at Peridot, “And I outrank you. You’re a lowly Era 2 Peridot, nothing without your Limb Enhancers, while I am the most finely cut Jasper to ever grace Homeworld!” She clenched a fist, obviously hanging onto that fact like a lifeline.

“Geez, ego much?” Amethyst scoffed besides Steven causing him to involuntary chuckle.

Before Jasper could snap at that comment, Peridot seemed to find her footing, “I am not nothing! And I don’t need my limb enhancers, they were like a crutch that prevented me from learning what I could really do on my own, such as the fact that I can move metal with my mind.” She motioned towards one of the fallen injectors, that were scattered around this area of the canyon, obviously the source of the bars, and started to pull on it, causing it to shiver at it, as she made noise and pulling motions, “Hnngh! Come on, move!”

Jasper stared at her dumbly, “Ok, you’ve clearly gone insane, prolonged isolation on this mudball of a planet and your capture must have broken you. No Peridot, Era 1 or 2 had any kind of powers even remotely related to moving metal, you of all Gems should know this!” She shouted at Peridot, breaking her out of her efforts.

“Whereas spending at least a month in fusion with Lapis, clearly left you completely and utterly sane, especially with this soldier thing you’ve got going on.” Amethyst whispered into Steven’s ear, causing him to giggle.

“I am not insane!” Peridot denied, and stared at the injector for a moment before shaking her head and giving up, “And I am certainly not broken.”

Jasper didn’t seem to notice as she glared distantly into the air, “You’ve gone native, just like all those traitors we fought back during the war.”

“She’s not the only one!” Amethyst shouted at Jasper, “You said Hell, that’s an Earth expression!” She pointed out, causing Steven’s eyes to widen, that was right, Jasper had said that, which meant she must have come across Humans at some point, which meant… Steven’s eyes widened as he realised exactly what the Gem in front of him would have done in that situation and he felt himself turn green at the thought.

Jasper turned to face Steven and Amethyst, her eyes blazing, “You know what? Fine, just help me throw these two into one of the cages. We can discuss this later.” She started to march menacingly towards them, causing Amethyst to summon her whip, ready for a fight.

Peridot stared blankly at Jasper for a moment before realising Jasper had been talking to her, “What? No! Why would I do that?!!”

Jasper paused mid-step and slowly turned around to face Peridot, the furious expression on her face causing Peridot to flinch in fear, “You really have cracked; you’re siding with the enemy!” She barked.

Peridot shook her head, fearfully, “They are not the enemy, they’re my friends!” She turned to look at Steven and Amethyst, gazing at them fondly, and despite the situation they were in, Steven found himself smiling back, “They’re Steven and Amethyst, friends just like me and Lapis.”

“Aww, Peridot.” Steven smiled at Peridot, proud of how much she’d changed.

“Lapis?” The quiet way Jasper spoke, snapped Steven out of his happiness, and he realised exactly how big a mistake it was for Peridot to mention her.

Peridot seemed to think the same as she let out a small, “Oh crud.”

Jasper’s eyes twitched, as she stared at Peridot, “You know where Lapis Lazuli is? Take me there and I’ll forgive your treachery.”

Peridot shook her head wildly, “No, I won’t do it!”

Jasper’s eyes hardened, “Do it or I’ll shatter you here and now and force one of the others to take me to her.” She calmly told Peridot, her hands twitching as she did so.

“I said no, you CLOD!!!” Peridot screamed at her.

Jasper paused, her body frozen, as she simply stared at Peridot, as if trying to comprehend what Peridot had said, time seemed to slow down in front of Steven as Jasper suddenly bellowed in rage, her crash helmet manifesting on the top of her head, and she moved. Her body a blur as she charged directly at Peridot with the intent to shatter, the smaller Gem barely managing to roll out of the way, causing Jasper to hit the face of the canyon wall, creating an impact crater as deep as one of the holes Jasper had dug out to use as a cage.

Seeing Jasper begin her attack caused Amethyst to start charging herself but Steven was able to stop her in time, grabbing onto her waste to pull her back, “Amethyst, no!” Steven cried, “Don’t do this. You’ll get-”

“I get what?” Amethyst asked quietly, turning to face him, “I’ll get hurt, because I’m so defective and she’s so perfect? She’s distracted right now, so it’s the perfect time to attack, I’ll catch her off guard.” She glared at him as if daring him to say otherwise.

Near tears, Steven just shook his head, “But Amethyst, I don’t want to watch you hurt yourself trying to prove you’re better than her.”

Amethyst’s face softened as she stared at Steven, “You’re right. The others would kill me if I got you hurt.” Without any warning she grabbed hold of Steven and picked him up, the unexpected move causing him to let go of her, “Go long, Steven!” She told him as she started to wind up to throw.

“Amethyst, wait!” Steven all but begged her to stop before suddenly finding himself launched into the air, his voice turning into a scream as right in front of him, the Jasper shaped hole grew bigger and bigger, until he was swallowed up in its darkness.

Jasper, in the midst of another charge at Peridot, abruptly stopped as she saw Steven’s body fly directly into a hole with a very familiar silhouette, “Rose, don’t you dare hide like a coward in there!” She shouted, “That’s my hole!”

Abandoning her chase for Peridot, she charged directly at the cliff and with the practiced ease of someone who did it a hundred times before, began to grab a hold of footholds in the cliffs face to pry herself up to her hole, where the almost defenceless Steven waited.

Amethyst’s eyes widened as she realised exactly what just happened, “Oh crud, what have I done?” She asked herself.

Steven pushed himself up off the ground, noticing how the glass floor Peridot had been talking about earlier, seemed to have cracked from the impact of him crashing into it, he shook off the pain, noticing how some of his stuff seemed to have slipped out of his pockets, including some loose change and that weird card the Magician had given to him. “Don’t panic, Steven, you’re okay, everything’s going to be okay.” He tried to assure himself, feeling his heart beat rapidly.

Suddenly Jasper’s face entered his vision, looking at him murderously as her arms clamped onto both sides for support. “ROSE!!!” She screamed.

Steven quickly changed his mind, “Time to panic, Steven, time to panic!”

Outside the hole, Peridot and Amethyst seemed to be taking his advice as they watched Jasper enter the hole.

“What do we do? What do we do?!!” Peridot screamed, as she started running around in a circle.

Amethyst, upon noticing how Jasper was climbing into the hole, opted to grab hold of her right leg, and shouted at Peridot, “Quick, grab onto her legs, we can’t let her reach Steven!”

This seemed to snap the Green Gem out of her stupor as she quickly joined Amethyst, grabbing hold of Jasper’s left leg, and starting to pull on it. Jasper seemed to realise what they were doing as her legs started to thrash about, almost throwing Amethyst and Peridot off them, but when that didn’t work, she renewed her efforts to climb in, and they felt their own feet start to leave the ground.

Inside, Steven could only move back as Jasper’s frame entered the hole further, her eyes never leaving him. “Rose, you coward!” Jasper roared at him, “Come take your punishment for what you did to our Diamond!”

Steven kept on shuffling backwards, his mind going too fast to attempt to summon a bubble or his shield, pulling himself deeper and deeper into the hole, until he felt his back hit the glassy wall, and knew he’d gotten as deep in as possible, and could only cower as he saw the murderous expression on Jasper’s face, “Please, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” He pleaded, and felt his eyes brimming with tears, before he could stop it a single tear managed to escape his face and hit the glassy floor of the hole.

As it fell, a stray thought reminded him that his mother had healing tears so maybe it would turn the glass back into soil. What he didn’t expect was for the floor to start glowing, lighting up the hole and causing him to flinch back in surprise, the light on the ground seemed to form a circle before his eyes and he wondered for a second whether this was people called a miracle.

Jasper took one look at the glowing circle and almost swore, “What the-?” She cut herself off to glare hatefully at Steven, “What did you do, Rose, Answer me!” She shouted causing Steven even more distress.

Steven could only shake his head in terror, in spite of all his training, in spite of everything he’d managed to accomplish, he felt like a little kid again, “I d-don’t know! Please, someone, anyone, help me!” He pleaded, and perhaps that was what caused what happened next.

The card that the magician had given him, the card that had fallen onto the floor of the hole in the middle of the confusion, and all the terror, started to glow itself, heedless to the glowing circle it was already on top. Instead of the white glow of the circle beneath it, the markings on the card, the ones that looked like a magic circle began glowing red and then if that weren’t enough, the red circle seemed to start to grow, getting bigger and bigger until it was almost too large to fit on the card, then heedless of that, it grew even bigger soon leaving the card entirely, and continuing to grow, only stopping when it synchronised with the already existing glowing white circle, and then instead of getting bigger, it seemed to start glowing brighter and brighter, until Steven was forced to shut his eyes from how blinding the light had gotten and he could hear from the grunting that the same was true of Jasper.

The light even managed to make it past Jasper’s large frame to the outside world, taking both Peridot and Amethyst’s who’d been fighting a losing battle with Jasper’s legs, off guard.

“What in the stars is that?!!” Peridot panicked as she felt Jasper’s leg slacken beneath her arms, almost certainly as surprised as they were.

Amethyst didn’t take it any better, “How should I know?!!” She yelled at Peridot holding onto Jasper’s legs for dear life, “Why are you asking me?!!”

When the light finally began to fade, Steven was able to open his eyes and see a silhouetted figure cast by the light, what looked to be like horns on the top of their face, if not for the fact that they were standing upright, Steven would have assumed them to be a Gem Monster. As it became to easier to see, Steven realised that the horns came from a helmet that the person was wearing, and that they were decked out in a suit of armour, like the Knights of old that Pearl seemed to love to emulate, the metal, white, silver and grey, with crimson highlights, and holding a grey sword that looked enormous in comparison to them, and with a start Steven realised that they were surprisingly short for a human adult, or at least Steven assumed they were a human adult, and that if they were to compare sizes, Steven would probably come up to their chest.

The Knight was silent for a moment, waiting for the light to completely fade, before speaking out, their voice echoing out of their armour, though it was surprisingly high-pitched, “I, Servant Saber, respond to your summons.” The Knight seemed about to say something else, before pausing and finally looking down at Steven, despite their face being covered by their helmet, Steven could tell that they seemed to be sizing him up, when the Knight finally began speaking again, it was far less formal, and almost reminded Steven of Amethyst, “So, kid, you my Master?”

Steven had absolutely no idea what was going on, so he ended up saying the first things that came into his head, “Yes?”


End file.
